Sunday, December 19, 2010

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on December 17, 2010 7:28 AM

1. There was a time when I thought that peace had come to the world. The Cold War had ended with the forces of the righteous triumphant.

2. But alas, for the small countries of the world, there is now more fear. The great democracies of the world, headed by the United States have decided on a crusade to democratise the whole world, through violence and war where necessary.

3. I am reading Robert Fisk, a British journalist, on the great war for civilisation i.e. the war in the Middle East. In all these wars the US plays a dominant role, not as a peace maker to stop the violent conflicts between the fractious Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries but to start wars against them so as to spread democracy.

4. In Palestine, United States' backing for Israel is unstinted, without regard for how many times and how blatant are Israel's disregard for the international law or morality or how violent and lethal are its methods.

5. Israel built "settlements" on Palestinian land with impunity, ravaged Palestinian villages, seize their land and expelled the inhabitants, openly shot and kill children, destroying houses with their occupants still inside, jailed and tortured more than a thousand Palestinians without charges or fair trial, illegally blockaded Gaza, attacked foreign ships on mercy mission while in international waters, killing foreign personnel on board, refuses to allow the Palestinians to call their land Palestine but instead to refer to themselves only as the Palestinian Authority.

6. Robert Fisk describes the torture methods of the Israelis and this is confirmed by Amnesty International. These include sleep deprivation, squatting for hours, violent shaking, imprisonment in a cupboard, beatings, pressure on the genitals and exposure to heat and cold.

7. Why is Israel free to do all these dastardly things? It is because the US backs it all the way.

8. Even when the Israelis ran over an American woman with a tractor, killing her, the US did not protest.

9. Netanyahu, the Israeli PM ignored President Obama when the latter demanded that no more Israeli settlements be built. The US President had to eat humble pie and did nothing.

10. That is Palestine and the Palestine/Israeli conflict. Then when the New York World Trade Centre was destroyed apparently by Saudi Arabs, the United States invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. These two countries have been bombed and rocketed over and over again, their towns and villages razed to the ground. Innocent people were killed by the thousands.

11. There is no respect for borders. Towns and villages in Pakistan also experience missile attacks, strafing by aircrafts and bombing, again killing civilians.

12. In Iraq, the excuse for invasion is that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. A "shock and awe" blitzkrieg has killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians. Iraq was occupied by US forces but no weapons of mass destruction were found. This excuse was a blatant lie and the US has belatedly admitted it. Now Wikileaks exposed that Israelis and pro-Israelis "fixed" the intelligence that induced the US to war with Iraq.

13. In Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan the killings and the destruction are still going on. But the US is not yet satisfied with the bloodbath it has initiated.

14. The next target is Iran. After their experience in Iraq there is seemingly less inclination by the US to invade Iran. Instead the method adopted is to starve the Iranians through a siege.

15. The United Nations Security Council has not approved the siege (sanctions) of Iran but the US has enough clout, influence over the countries of the world to get them to carry out its wishes.

16. Thus if the banks of any country has any dealings with Iran, the US will disallow the bank from doing business with the US. Many other arm twisting methods are used by the US to render its siege of Iran effective. The purpose of doing this is to impoverish and create difficulties for the people of Iran allegedly because of Iran's nuclear programme but actually to punish the Iranians for the closure of the US Embassy and the detention of its staff during the civil war. Revenge is very much a part of US foreign policy.

17. Now it is the turn of North Korea. It is the US who planned and implemented military exercises in waters close to North Korea. The idea is to threaten that already poor country to submit to the US.

18. Provoked, the North Koreans fired at the South Korean island in the narrow strait between it and South Korea where the military exercise is being conducted. And then the Western media condemns North Korea for this when it was in fact America which provoked North Korea into firing their guns.

19. Presidents of countries are not safe from arrest by the US. President Noriega of Panama is now languishing in an American jail. Now President Omar Bashir is being sought by America after the International Criminal Court found him guilty in a trial in which he was not defended.

20. President Salvador Allende of Chile was assassinated through the machinations of the CIA because he was a Marxist, even though he was elected by the Chileans.

21. Nicaragua had its harbour mined by the US in 1984. The United States was found guilty by the International Court. The other countries of South America live in fear of the US.

22. In the Far East the US ensured the enmity between Japan and China is perpetuated and heightened. Rapprochement between Germany and France was possible but not between Japan and China. The US opposed the formation of the East Asia Economic Group.

23. A policy of containment of China is urged on all the countries of South East Asia. Lately the US wants to be involved in the dispute over the islands of the South China Sea. For the US the dispute provides an opportunity to involve South East Asian countries in the encirclement of China.

24. It is clear that the US is seeking to make war against the small nations of the world. The US is willing to kill hundreds of thousands of people in order to spread its influence and domination.

25. No country in the world dares to condemn the US for its bullying of small weak countries.

26. Everywhere in the world US Embassies have to be fenced and guarded. Everywhere there would be demonstrations against the US. The country is the most hated nation in the world.

27. The US should be the leading nation in the world, abiding by the decisions of the United Nations, helping the poor and the weak, enriching the world with its technology and generally creating a better world by upholding non-violent ways of settling disputes between nations.

28. It is sad that the US has chosen the ugly way just for the sake of Israel. It is sad that a country which preaches human rights, justice and freedom is the country which is most guilty of breaching all the high values that it preaches.

29. Obama, with all his promises of change has changed nothing about US warlike ways and disregard for international norms. Clearly changes of Presidents, of parties forming Governments of the US will change nothing concerning US creed and policies.

30. The capacity of the US to learn from its experiences is almost nil.

31. The world will have to be reconciled with having the most powerful country in the world remaining addicted to the gun which won it the West in the past. This great democracy is anything but democratic in its relationship with the world community.

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on December 10, 2010 3:35 PM

1. It is reported that Malaysia produces 94,000 tons of rubbish per day or 34,310,000 tons per year.

2. I suppose a substantial portion of this must be produced by Greater Kuala Lumpur (population of about 5.5 million).

3. Population wise Greater KL has about 20 per cent of Malaysia's population. Therefore Greater KL's production of rubbish is approximately seven million tons per year.

4. What can we do with 7 million tons of rubbish. Well, we can throw it on the road outside our houses, or in the drain and rivers. In no time all our drains and rivers will be clogged up and water will overflow and flood the land. The health of the people will be at risk.

5. We can collect the rubbish and bury in a designated area. With 7 million tons a year we will be needing more and more land, and land in Greater KL is expensive. To use the land again the rubbish has to be dug and removed to another place for burial.

6. Alternatively we can have a rubbish mountain and people can go there to scrounge for any useful item. Probably the mountain of rubbish will be burnt slowly and pollute the atmosphere.

7. We can if we like, burn the rubbish behind our houses. One house doing this would be okay. But when everyone does this in KL the smoke would not only cause a haze to hang over KL, but the smell would be quite unbearable.

8. Again we can collect the rubbish and burn it in an incinerator. But no community wants to have the incinerator located anywhere near them. We must find a place where no one is living there. Look around Greater KL and you cannot find a piece of land far enough from any community to site the incinerator.

9. If you do find it would be so far away that he cost of transporting the rubbish would be a drain on the finances of City Hall. Maybe the rubbish producers should pay a special fee for rubbish disposal. I don't think anyone would agree to that. It's not the Malaysian way to pay what we can get for free.

10. I am putting this dilemma of the authorities on my blog so that people can come up with solutions. Frankly I think the authorities are scared to apply any solution because we are a democracy and no one wants to lose votes.

11. For those who are interested, read about the rubbish collection problem in Italy here.

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on December 7, 2010 2:30 PM

**Selamat Menyambut Maal Hijrah 1432**

1. By the time I visited MAHA Show at Serdang Saturday morning, 1.8 million people had been ahead of me. The papers reported today that altogether 2.7 million people visited the show this year.

2. This year's show is clearly bigger and better. The Ministry of Agriculture and its agencies like MARDI and FAMA must be congratulated.

3. I noted that the Ministry of Agriculture has made tremendous progress in upgrading Malaysian agriculture. The farmers and fishermen should not languish in poverty if they make use of the techniques developed by MARDI, FAMA and other ministry agencies and departments.

4. I was most impressed by the quality of the fruits and their packaging. They are world-class. The Government has also gone a long way in helping people in the rural areas to market even their casual products. To those keen on doing something for themselves a motorbike with a side-car is available at highly subsidised price to go into the villages to buy kampung produce and sell to the outlets set up by FAMA. I am told that this scheme can give an income of more than RM1000-00 a month.

5. All kinds of machines are exhibited which can help small businesses. Among them is a bread-making machine which makes bread from rice or wheat grains simply by putting in the necessary ingredients inside a rice cooker like apparatus, switching it on and in 3 hours fresh bread would be produced.

6. We love the labour of making dodol, a kind of social activity which brings friends and neighbours in the village together. Now you need only to switch on the huge pot or bowl and in four hours the dodol maker will deliver whatever amount of dodol you want for Raya. Literally no sweat.

7. I was particularly interested in the cattle. They are big and look like the huge European animals. I don't think we can free ourselves from imported beef but really we can produce some of the beef ourselves. I had a lunch of steak produced by a Malaysian farmer and it was tender and delicious.

8. I read in the papers complaints on transportation. VIPs like my wife and I were well taken care off. But others had to walk or to queue for the special buses.

9. Yes, MAHA organisers should take note and improve transportation. But the show was free except for a RM3 parking fee for cars.

10. We are so used to getting things free and complaining about what we get as well. I know I will not be popular but I think paying something for a show like MAHA is not too great an imposition. Then maybe the transportation can be improved. I would suggest that transport be privatised. I am not thinking of more money for my cronies, but Government is notorious for not caring much especially when it gets a monopoly.

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on November 30, 2010 8:30 AM

1. In the 1980's and early 1990's there was a great construction boom in Tokyo. Land was sold at USD 3,000 per sq foot. Everyone was rushing to buy expensive land because the market for apartments and office space seem to be forever.

2. Then suddenly the market dried up. The boom became bust. Since then Japan has not been able to really recover.

3. It was the same with Hong Kong. The economy collapsed because of overbuilding.

4. In a way the sub-prime crisis which triggered the financial and economic collapse also had to do with the building industry.

5. I once thought that the tower crane should be included in the coat-of-arms of KL City Council because they were all over the city. KL grew at a rapid pace and the skyline changed almost every day.

6. KL is still growing. New high-rise apartments, condominiums and office buildings are mushrooming everywhere. It is really amazing. We really look like a newly developed country.

7. Can this growth go on forever? True, KL's population and that of Greater KL (including non-Wilayah areas) have been growing fast. At independence, the population was only 350,000. Today Klang Valley has a population of almost 6 million. Obviously the businesses and the workers at all levels need space to live and work.

8. But it is not impossible that the provision for these would not outstrip the rise in population and their spending power.

9. Shopping complexes are being developed sometimes next to each other. Surely it will cause the shoppers to be divided between them. There will not be enough to support all the complexes. Some will survive, some will die.

10. Already we have seen a few hyper-market chains going out of business. Will this not happen to a few of the shopping complexes? Will this not happen to the other major development projects?

11. And we are told of new giant projects. The Sungai Buloh KL City Centre, the new KL Financial District and the 100-storey Merdeka Tower Project.

12. Some people say that even the Petronas Twin Towers are empty. Well they are not fully occupied. This is because of a policy to allow only prestigious corporations and institutions to have the Twin Towers as their address. In any case, Petronas has enough requests for space to decide to add extra space for the shopping complex and a forty-storey tower.

13. I should really be advising Petronas to abandon its current project. But here I am talking about overbuilding in KL. Really I shouldn't. But I am really concerned over the possibility of the bubble bursting.

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on November 26, 2010 11:50 AM

1. The Malaysian Ringgit has appreciated after control was removed. It is now stronger against the US Dollar by approximately 20 per cent.

2. What does this mean to the people? It should result in imports becoming cheaper if not by 20 per cent at least by some percentage below that.

3. But I don't think Malaysian imports paid for in US Dollars is noticeably cheaper in Ringgit. Why is this so?

4. When the currency appreciates through market forces, it is neither constant nor does it do so at specific rates. It may appreciate a little, then depreciates. Then it may appreciate again.

5. It takes a long time before the strengthening is substantial as to affect costs of imports or exports.

6. Under this circumstance the depreciation in price of imports cannot be monitored. Despite an appreciation of the Ringgit against the US Dollar by 20 per cent, there may not be any change in the price of imports in Ringgit. In some cases the price might increase.

7. It is only when Malaysians travel abroad that they may feel richer due to the appreciation of the Ringgit.

8. But if the rate of exchange is controlled, then it will be possible to monitor the prices of major imports and their retail prices. Sugar, flour, components for manufacturing industry, petroleum products and even manufactured goods should be cheaper in Malaysian Ringgit when it appreciates and dearer when it depreciates. If through control we strengthen the Ringgit by 20 per cent then we should be able to enjoy imports cheaper by about that percentage.

9. If the Ringgit is controlled, how should the Government determine the exchange rate of the Ringgit at a given time. In 1998 the Ringgit was fixed at RM3.80 to the US Dollar because that was roughly the rate of exchange of the currencies of our neighbours against the US Dollar. We did not want our Ringgit to be too strong compared to the currencies of our neighbours. We wanted to remain competitive.

10. An appreciation of 20 per cent to the 1998 exchange rate would be about equal that of the current appreciation of the Thai Baht.

11. When to fix the new rate is dependent on the behaviour of the currency of our competitors. We should avoid small increases or decreases but should wait until the gain or loss would be around 10 per cent. Prior to doing this we should monitor the prices of our imports and exports. When we announce the new rate we can determine the gain or loss by the importers, wholesalers and retailers. The prices can then be calculated and any gain passed on to the consumers.

12. That is the advantage of currency control over free float even when managed.

13. It is strange that at the time when many countries have decided on currency control Malaysia is thinking of freeing the Ringgit from any control.

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on November 25, 2010 4:50 AM

1. We know that we must all leave this life one day. But knowing the inevitabilty of death cannot stop us from grieving over the passage of a great man, no matter how long he may have lived.

2. As a nationalist, as a friend, as a compatriot, I feel saddened by the passage from this life of Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu.

3. Except for Tun Razak, Tun Lim contributed most to the formation of the National Front, the coalition which succeeded the Alliance, ruled and developed Malaysia until today. He responded postively to the proposal by Tun Razak to rejoin the coalition for the good of Malaysia. He rose above many of the grievances which had led him to leave the MCA, to become a junior partner even though he had been victorious. He was content to be just a Chief Minister of Penang.

4.It was as a Chief Minister that he made Foreign Direct Investment a by-word in Malaysia and perhaps in the world. He brought the first foreign investments in electronics to Penang. It was the best thing for overcoming unemploymnet which had plagued Malaysia till then.

5. It was he who made the Penang the centre for the transformation of Malaysia into an industrial nation. Towards this end he was tireless, almost single-handedly contacting and persuading foreign industrialists to invest in the new electronics industry. So successfull was he that very quickly Penang was short of workers and other states benefitted from his effort at creating employment.

6. I worked closely with Tun Lim and always found him open to proposals on the development of Penang and Malaysia. When he lost in the 1990 elections, it came as a shock to me. I had thought that the people of Penang would remember his services and overcome partisan sentiments. But I suppose I was hoping for far too much.

7. Malaysia, and I dare say Penang, has lost a great leader with the passing away of Tun Dr Lim Ching Eu.

8. I offer my condolences to Toh Puan Goh Sing Yeng and all the members of Tun Lim's family.

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on November 19, 2010 10:20 AM

1. Lately we have been seeing rather rapid increases in the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index. Those who play the stock market must be feeling very happy. Much money must be made by investors from capital gains.

2. Some people believe that the rise of the KLCI is an indicator of the healthy state of the Malaysian economy. This may be true but let me throw some cold water in the belief that the index indicates that the economy is doing very well.

3. It is doing fairly well, no doubt, but that is not enough to push the KLCI to record highs. What is happening is that a lot of foreign money is coming in to buy Malaysian stocks.4.In itself it is not bad. It is also a kind of foreign direct investment (FDI). But this kind of FDI is not about setting up industries to produce goods for export. The latter will not be easily liquidated to take the invested capital out. The plants which are set up cannot be easily sold. The Investors will have to manage them through good and bad times to get a return on their investments.

5. But FDI in stocks and shares can be sold any time and the proceeds taken out.

6. Just as increases in investments push up share prices and the KLCI, rapid or massive divestments will push down the share prices and index.

7. We read in the papers that the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States is pumping US600 billion Dollars into the US economy. A part of this money will no doubt be used to invest in stock and shares of the developing economies. The result of this FDI-financed purchases will be a rise in the share prices and the KLCI.

8. In 1997-1998 the foreign investors pulled out their investments and the KLCI dropped from 1,300 to 262. Naturally a lot of local investors lost money. They could not meet margin calls nor raise money to augment collaterals for their bank loans.

9. The banks found themselves burdened with large numbers of non-performing loans and had to face the threat of bankruptcy.

10. Should the banks collapse the economy of the country will go into a tailspin. It did in 1997-1998. It will happen again should the foreign investors dump their Malaysian shares to take profits from capital gains.

11. Foreign funds, especially from the US coming in to invest in Malaysia's stock market at this time must be considered as hot money. I would not be suprised when the KLCI peaks the foreign investors will dump their shares and collect capital gains. The share prices will fall rapidly and Malaysians who had chased the shares on their way up will be asked to meet margin calls. If they fail they will lose a lot of money.

12. I hope I am wrong. But sometimes my predictions about money and markets have proven to be right. In any case I only own 200 Malayan Tobacco shares bought before I became Education Minister. I have nothing to gain or to lose, but the country and the stock market investors will lose.

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on November 18, 2010 11:30 AM

1. Malaysians, including Malaysian monetary authorities seem quite happy over the appreciation of the Ringgit against the US Dollar. We think that when our currency strengthens it must be because our economy is strong, Therefore we are doing well.

2. But are we doing well? Is it the Ringgit which is appreciating or is it the US Dollar which is devaluing?

3. Actually it is the US Dollar which is devaluing. It is devaluing against most other currencies, especially against China's currency.

4. Why is the dollar devaluing? Could it be due to the currency traders selling dollars? Could it be because the balance of payment is not in US favour?5. Martin Wolf of the Financial Times, an expert on money have this to say. There is a global currency battle going on. "To put it crudely," he says, "the US wants to inflate the rest of the world, while the latter is trying to deflate the US. The US must win, since it has infinite ammunition; there is no limit to the dollars the Federal Reserve can create. What needs to be discussed is the terms of the world's surrender; the needed changes in nominal exchange rates and domestic policies around the world.

6. Our reserves are represented by the US Dollar, gold and other currencies which we keep in order to back the value of our Ringgit, The US clearly does not have to hold foreign currencies to back the Dollar. All the US has to is to create (print) money.

7. When we buy US Dollar bonds, we are in fact lending US Dollars to the US. When we redeem the bonds all the US has to do is to print more US Dollars to pay us.

8. How nice it would be if we can pay all our debts by just printing money.

9. There is something fishy going on and the fishy smell is very strong in the US. "Poor" China with 2.5 trillion devalued dollars in its reserve. Wonder how much Bank Negara has?

10. In the face of Governments devaluing their currencies in a currency war, what should Malaysia do? Keep the float or control? When we controlled our currency in 1998 we were called pariahs whose knowledge about finance could be wriiten on the back of a postage stamp. Now it seems many nations are using their magnifying glasses to read what is written on the back of the postage stamps.

1. The last time I was in Labuan was in 1998 to officiate the opening of the new building of the Labuan Offshore Financial Centre. So when I was invited to speak on Islamic Finance by the Centre, now known as the Labuan Offshore Financial Services Authority, I accepted it with alacrity. I wanted to see the progress made since I was there the last time.

2. I am glad to see obvious development everywhere. The old wood and zinc sheds have been largely replaced by new brick and mortar houses of pleasing designs. The roads are well paved. The kampung roads have been concretised. New buildings and shop houses are going up everywhere.

3. YB Dato Yusof Haji Mahal (MP for Labuan) rode with me around the island pointing out proudly to the concrete walkways in the water villages, the Direct Reduction Iron plant, the oil supply base and the big Petronas Methanol plants.4. Somehow I felt once again the happiness and the nostalgia at seeing the greenness of the island and the landscaping. All the roads of Labuan are lighted as Labuan has a big gas powered plant. It exports electricity to the mainland.

5. There is a big new international airport but only MAS and Air Asia flies into Labuan. Although there is an open-sky policy, attempts to get foreign airlines to fly to Labuan has failed. As a result tourist arrivals is very small.

6. When I was PM I had suggested we make Labuan into a garden island. In Victoria Island in Vancouver, an old quarry was developed into a beautiful garden - the Butchart Gardens. Annually it receives 2 million visitors.

7. We once invited the developers of Butchart Gardens to build a smaller garden in Tanjung Malim near a hot spring whose hot water flows into a nearby river. Money was allocated for it but when I stepped down the project was dumped because the Government has no money.

8. If we want tourists to come we must have something to show them. Labuan has a few natural things to offer but not enough to attract foreign tourist. Converting the island into a garden, building bicycle tracts for mountain bikes and holding bicycle races, a regatta for sailing boats, fishing, diving to see shipwrecks would add to Labuan's attraction as a free port and shopping centre for visitors from Asean neighbours and other countries.

9. The cost to the Government for providing all these would be quite small but for the Government and the country the returns can be quite considerable.

10. Labuan is a Barisan Nasional stronghold. It was once won by an independent. I think enticing the 80,000 Labuanese would be good for BN politics.

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on November 10, 2010 11:11 AM

1. Next year, 2011, one of the agreements to supply up to 86 million gallons of water per day (mgd) from Johore to Singapore at 3 sen per 1,000 gallons will end.

2. I understand Johore is still buying treated water from Singapore for 50 sen per 1,000 gallons. The amount purchased should not exceed 12 per cent of the raw water bought by Singapore.

3. The agreement also stipulates that the price of raw water and treated water can be renegotiated and changed if both parties agree. Should the raw water price be revised upwards Singapore would be entitled to revise the price of treated water.

4. If, for example, under the current agreement the water price is increased to 6 sen per 1,000 gallons, i.e. 100 per cent, Singapore can insist on the same percentage price increase by 100 per cent i.e. from 50 sen per 1,000 gallons to one Ringgit per thousand gallons.

5. If both sides agree on this quantum of price increase, Singapore would actually earn more from selling treated water to Johor than Malaysia would earn from selling raw water to Singapore.

6. Almost 10 years ago Johor was allocated sufficient money to build its own treatment plant so as not to buy treated water from Singapore. I am told that for reasons unknown, despite building its own treatment plant Johore is still buying treated water from Singapore.

7. Johore sells raw water to Melaka at 30 sen per 1,000 gallons. It seems that Johore is less generous towards Melaka than it is towards a foreign country. The wisdom of this escapes me.

8. Whatever, in 2011, a new agreement to supply Singapore with raw water from Johore may have to be made, I think that despite Singapore's desalination plant, despite Newater, and new reservoirs, Singapore would still need raw water from Johore. We should be willing to supply the people of Singapore with raw water.

9. The question is whether we should sell at 3 sen per 1,000 gallons and buy at 50 sen per 1,000 gallons of treated water as before or we should extract better terms.

10. Malaysian negotiators are unduly generous and we often provide ourselves with no exit clause. I will not cite the cases.

11. The public, the Johore people in particular, should be assured that we don't make agreements which are indefensible this time.

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on November 2, 2010 3:40 PM

1. When the 5th PM took over, it became obvious he was incompetent and unable to govern the country and grow its economy. He was seen as weak by the Malays as well as by the Chinese and Indians. He flipped-flopped, making decisions and policies and reversing them, arresting opposition members under the ISA and then releasing them shortly after, claiming that he wanted to protect them.

2. Extremists among the Chinese and Indians felt they could safely challenge the Government, particularly over racial issues. They demanded that provisions in the Constitution favouring the Malays and the NEP quotas be removed. Even Barisan Nasional partners took up the call.

3. Normally UMNO leaders and UMNO generally would take up the defence of the Malays. But Abdullah as UMNO President and PM was silent (elegant silence) causing the other leaders and members of UMNO to become silent also.

4. As the attack against the Malays escalated and UMNO remained silent, the Malay public felt they were being let down by UMNO. Losing faith in UMNO, they began to set up NGOs to take up the challenges by the Chinese and Indian activists.

5. Perkasa as an NGO gained the most support because the founder was more vocal and willing to take risk and to rebut the views of the Chinese and Indian extremists.

6. Meanwhile Malay support for UMNO was silently eroding. In the 2008 elections the loss of Malay support for UMNO became evident. Many either abstained or voted for PAS.

7. Demands were then made for Abdullah to step down. Najib took over and he tried to regain Chinese support by apparently giving in to Chinese demands on several issues. The new UMNO leadership also opted to remain silent and failed to defend the Malay position. Instead of going back to support UMNO, Malays including UMNO members continue to flocked to Perkasa.

8. In the 2008 elections, many UMNO and BN candidates won only by small margins even in their strongholds. If in the next election defections by even a small number of supporters in some constituencies can result in a reduction of the Barisan Nasional majority or even cause the BN to lose altogether.

9. Because of the poor handling of the Perak crisis, the Chinese who considered the Pakatan Government of Perak as a Chinese Government, swore not to support BN anymore.

10. The situation of UMNO and BN looked bleak. They have not regained the Malay support lost in the 2008 elections and they face the prospect of the Chinese not supporting the Barisan Nasional in the 13th General Elections. Striving to regain Chinese support is not enough. They must also regain Malay support.

11. UMNO may think that all the Malays are supportive of the party. But UMNO cannot be sure of that. Their silence before the 2008 Election was deceptive. We now know that many supported the opposition. Can UMNO disregard or antagonise any Malay group? I think it would be dangerous to do so.

12. Perkasa has not indicated that it is against BN and UMNO. In fact it has hinted that it is for UMNO. Looking at the strength of Malay support for Perkasa antagonising them would not be to the benefit of the Barisan Nasional or UMNO.

13. Perkasa is accused of being racist and should be rejected on that ground. Is Perkasa racist? If anyone cares to study the statement by Perkasa he will not fail to note that it has confined itself to rebutting allegations that the non-Malays have been discriminated against, that the Malays need to retain their present position. If it is really racist then it would be demanding the abolition of the special treatment of the Chinese and Indians in Malaysia. This it has not done except when defending the Malay position.

14. It is illogical to expect that when the Chinese and Indian activists demand for the removal of policies and schemes to help the Malays, they, the Malays should remain silent or to agree. Surely the natural thing for them to do is to defend themselves. If their anointed protector, UMNO, refuses for whatever reason to voice disagreement against the demands of the Chinese and Indians, then the beleaguered Malays will have to find a champion elsewhere.

15. They could form a political party and undermine UMNO. But they did not. The Malays are already fragmented. And so they formed NGOs instead which leaves them with the option to support or not to support UMNO and the Barisan Nasional.

16. True there are a few Malays in Pakatan who seem to agree and support demands to do away with the affirmative action in favour of the Malays. But they are doing this simply to fish for Chinese support for their parties.

17. Whatever may be the feelings of UMNO, I have decided that the NGOs have a big enough following which could do damage to UMNO and the BN in the next election if they want to. Accordingly I have decided to stay close with Perkasa especially and to ensure that it does not swing over to the opposition. I would like to ensure that Perkasa supports the Barisan Nasional in the next election.

18. Does this make me a racist? I had at one time the opportunity and power to be a real Malay racist. But I won elections with strong non-Malay support. In fact in1999 it was Chinese support which gave me my 2/3 majority.

19. I was obviously not regarded as a racist then (except of course by the DAP). So why am I regarded as a racist now when all I want to do is to ensure Malay support for Barisan Nasional parties, especially UMNO.

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on October 26, 2010 2:25 PM

1. The Prime Minister has announced that Malaysia should develop into a high income economy. In the past we had stressed low cost because we wanted to attract Foreign Direct Investment through low wages for our workers. That was a good strategy because we were trying to solve our high unemployment problem.

2. We were so successful in creating jobs that we have to import foreign labour. We were effectively helping to solve the unemployment problem of other countries.

3. Our cost of labour is now higher than our neighbours and of course against China and Vietnam.There is no way we can compete with them. If our labour cost increases further, especially if we want to have a high income economy, we can no longer compete for FDI, at least the labour intensive ones.

4. When we increase incomes it will not be only wages and salaries which will increase, profits as income must also increase. Government can quite easily pay high salaries and wages. But even for the Government the money must come from somehwere.

5. Unless Government revenues increase, the money will have to come from reduction in development expenditure. This may not be welcomed by the people.

6. For the private sector the money can come from more efficient management, higher productivity through more efficient output by workers or through investments in better machinery and equipment. Almost invariably the higher wages and salaries will increase cost and therefore the prices of goods and services.

7. Higher income will therefore result in higher cost of living. This will reduce the purchasing power expected of higher incomes. This would be meaningless unless the increase in cost of living will be less than the increase in incomes.

8. Unless the increase in incomes is properly managed, it will not enrich the people in terms of purchasing power. As the cost of living rises, the increases in income may not purchase more than what the previous lower income would. Indeed it may be possible that the increases in income will actually purchase less goods and services than the previous low income.

9. We see today the purchasing power of the developed countries with much higher income than us. The United States is said to have a per capita income of USD36,000, roughly five times Malaysia's USD7,000 per capita. But the people are not five times richer than Malaysians in terms of purchasing power. In fact in certain cases the purchasing power is the same as Malaysians. According to the McDonald's Hamburger Index, the Ringgit is the same as the US Dollar in purchasing McDonald's hamburger - one Ringgit will buy in Malaysia what USD1 will buy in the US.

10. Clearly the increased income in high-cost countries does not give an increase in purchasing power equal to the increase in income as compared to low-cost countries. It is important that the Malaysian public understand this.

11. Malaysians are very sensitive to price increases, in many cases illogically. When crude oil increased in price from USD30 per barrel to USD140, Malaysians expect the pump price of petrol to remain the same. This is illogical. Surely the increase in crude price will be reflected in the retail petrol price.

12. The Government can subsidise. But when Government subsidises it must tap the money from other allocations. Perhaps it can use the extra profits from the sale of Malaysian crude in the market. But this would not be enough as we consume three-fourth of our oil and sell only one quarter. From the sale of one quarter of our oil, we cannot fully subsidise three quarters that we sell at the old price.

13. There must therefore be an increase in the price of retail oil. Malaysians must accept reasonable price increases when incomes and profits are increased on our way to becoming high-cost developed country. There is no way we can continue to enjoy low cost of living while we ensure we earn high incomes.

14. A high-income economy must therefore also be a high-cost (of living) country. But with good management the high incomes would increase our purchasing power to some extent, especially in the purchase of imported goods and services and when traveling abroad. There should be also a certain increase in purchasing power in the country. In effect despite higher cost of living we will still enjoy higher purchasing power and a higher standard of living.

15. I am all for the Government's high income policy. My worry is that the people may expect high income without the accompanying high cost of living. It is better for them to be forewarned.

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on October 20, 2010 8:00 AM

1. Malaysians, including Malaysian monetary authorities seem quite happy over the appreciation of the Ringgit against the US Dollar. We think that when our currency strengthens it must be because our economy is strong. Therefore we are doing well.

2. But are we doing well? Is it the Ringgit which is appreciating or is it the US Dollar which is devaluing?

3. Actually it is the US Dollar which is devaluing. It is devaluing against most other currencies, especially against China's currency.

4. Why is the dollar devaluing? Could it be the currency traders are selling dollars? Could it be because the balance of payment is not in US favour?

5. Martin Wolf of the Financial Times, an expert on money has this to say. There is a global currency battle going on. "To put it crudely," he says, "the US wants to inflate the rest of the world, while the latter is trying to deflate the US. The US must win, since it has infinite ammunition; there is no limit to the dollars the Federal Reserve can create. What needs to be discussed is the terms of the world's surrender; the needed changes in nominal exchange rates and domestic policies around the world."

6. Our reserves are represented by the US Dollar, Gold and other currencies which we keep in order to back the value of our Ringgit. The US clearly does not have to hold foreign currencies to back the Dollar. All the US has to do is to create (print) money.

7. When we buy US Dollar bonds, we are in fact lending US Dollars to the US. When we redeem the bonds all the US has to do is to print more dollars to pay us. We are actually exchanging hard-earned money for pieces of paper which some people call toilet paper.

8. I wonder what Malaysia is doing during this currency war. Are we still keeping US Dollars as our reserves? Have our reserves depreciated because the US Dollar has depreciated?

9. Many countries are now "controlling" their currencies. Are we going to go the other way - to remove the last remnants of our control?

10. As I said in a previous article, the daily trade in currency amounts to 4 trillion dollars. Are we going to contribute to that trade?

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on October 13, 2010 12:15 PM

1. I would like to apologise to the students and others for failing to turn up to give the talk I had agreed to.

2. I would also like to thank those who sent get well messages, fruits and flowers while I was in hospital in Melbourne.

3. Honestly I feel I have lost an opportunity to meet and talk to what may be the future leaders of Malaysia. For this reason I am writing down here what would have been the contents of my talk.

4. The suggested topic for my talk was, "Are we ready for 1 Malaysia: Does Race Still Play a Part?"

5. I will be frank but factual. My only interest is the country we all love. I am past self-interest.

6. First let me refer to the slogan "1 Malaysia".

7. Without the Government spelling out the precise meaning of 1 Malaysia, different people are giving their own interpretations which not only differ from each other but are in conflict with each other.

8. The Malays generally interprete 1 Malaysia to mean real adoption of the national language as the home language by every citizen as happens in other multiracial countries. They also expect the abolition of Chinese and Tamil schools and ensuring the private sector has a fair participation of Malays and other Bumiputeras.

9. The Chinese and Indians interprete 1 Malaysia to mean amendments to the constitution to eliminate provisions for the special treatment of the Malays and their protection by the Rulers, removal of the quota for Malays in the Civil Service, termination of the NEP, termination of the 30 per cent quota for Malays and indigenous people in business, termination of the quota for awards of licences, contracts and Aps. All awards to be on a competitive basis and open to all irrespective of race. They also expect perpetuation and maintenance of Chinese and Indian schools by the Government.

10. These two interpretations of 1 Malaysia admittedly are by the more extreme groups. The more moderate ones from both sides are milder in their expectations but their minimum intetrpretations still provide irreconcilable conflicts. 1 Malaysia clearly means different things to the different races.

11. This is the present position and it is obvious that race still play a very important role.

12. Question: It is now more than 50 years since independence. For how long do the Malays expect to be treated as special and different from the other citizens?

Answer: For as long as the Chinese and Indians prefer to be identified with their countries of origins. For as long as they want to keep their home languages and their schools.

13. Question: The so-called social contract were made a long time ago. We were not involved and we cannot be bound by it forever. When can we ignore the social contract and draw up our own social contract?

Answer: When everyone agrees to throw out the old social contract and replace it with a new one.

This will take a long time. As the new contract will be between races, racial factors would be included. Unless both sides agree to give up their races' own rights as spelt out in the first contract i.e. the preservation of own home languages and schools etc. the rights of the indigenous races to their special position etc must remain a part of the new social contract.

It is not certain that each would not demand for more than what they got under the old contract. It is likely there would be no agreement and no contract. Ths would lead to perpetual conflicts.

14. Question: So there will be no solution. The racial divisions and conflicts will remain.

Answer: In Vision 2020 one of the objectives is to create a bangsa Malaysia.

The belief at that time was that if Malaysia becomes a fully developed country, it would become very prosperous.

This prosperity would be fairly shared between the races. There would be less jealousy between them. There would also be less fear of any race being dominated by any other race.

The political cooperation between the races would also be made more meaningful as loyalty to the country would override other loyalties. In fact non-racial parties would be the trend.

It would take a long time perhaps - depending on fair wealth distribution. But once it takes off the pace will increase.

Malaysians of all races would be so proud of their country and its great achievements that the desire to be linked with other countries would be much diminished if not disappear altogether (as happens in prosperous multi-racial countries like the US - where the German, Eisenhower led the war against Germany. Eisenhower was American first and his country of origin was irrelevant to him).

The Malaysians at that stage would be Bangsa Malaysia first and always. The thing to do now is to ensure prosperity for the country and its fair distribution. Removing current rights of any of the races at this moment will only lead to racial conflicts which would obstruct prosperity.

15. Question: There are Malays in the opposition who condemn the NEP as unfair discrimination.

Answer: There are also Chinese and Indians who appreciate what the Malays have done and support the NEP. They are not so vocal for obvious reasons.

One should look at the Malays who condemn the NEP. If they are politicians or supporters of certain parties their views are motivated by a desire to get Chinese support. They assume that they themselves would lead the nation and enjoy power and opportunities through Chinese support. But there will be a pay-back period. The support is not for free. The Malay leaders will be like Nizar (Jamaluddin) when he was Menteri Besar of Perak - mere puppets.

The non-politically educated Malays feel ashamed that they have to be helped. They would like to be recognised as people who succeeded on their own. If we study these people almost invariably they have benefited from the NEP. They appear to be ashamed of this.

They are ashamed to admit that they were unable to compete with the other races. I am not ashamed to admit that I cannot compete with the Chinese and Indian students when studying medicine. They had much better results than me and the other six Malay students for entry into the Medical College. Even at that time the British promised to the Rulers to help educate the Malays. I had my chance because of the affirmative action then. On pure merit I would not be a doctor today, not because I was not qualified, but my qualification was lower than others.

One has to remember that the Chinese civilisation is more than 4000 years old. No other civilisation has lasted that long. Naturally they have developed a culture better able to survive under all conditions. It is my belief that if the percentage of Chinese in the United Kingdom for example is the same as in Malaysia, UK would be better developed than it is now. It is not surprising that the Chinese excel in developing Malaysia (for which they are amply rewarded).

It is not shameful to lose out against them. Simply to catch up with them we need handicaps. To be given handicaps is to ensure fairness, not discrimination. That is why in golf you have handicaps. That is why in all contests there must be equality between the contestants.

It is selfish if having benefited from the handicaps you want to deny others from having them.

But when all is said and done, those who are given the benefits of handicaps must make honest efforts to use them properly. If they don't then they must forfeit the handicaps in the future.

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on October 11, 2010 9:05 AM

1. After three days in the Epworth Hospital, it was suggested that I be discharged but should continue treatment under the Hospital in the Home service.

2. The Home Hospital has a full staff of doctors, specialists and nurses. They will carry out the full hospital treatment, periodical medical examination and treatment, intravenous drips, physiotherapy etc. They do not stay with patients but would visit at the designated time and stay as long as necessary.

3. It is far better than house-call by doctors as they can only give limited service. You feel you are being well looked after as in the hospital, but you have the ambience of home and family.

4. I don't know if we have this service or not but I believe it can contribute to being a developed country.

5. Another service I experienced is the ambulance service. The two ambulance personnel are very highly trained to give first aid including CPR, proper handling of fractures, take blood pressure and heart rate, ECG and other signs and symptoms.

6. They handle their patients very competently, are in continuous communication with the hospital to ensure preparation for receiving the patients.

7. I believe an effort was made by local doctors to provide this kind of service in Kuala Lumpur. Unfortunately after the ambulances had been acquired the financiers backed out. The Return on Investment was not good enough.

8. The Government does not operate a full ambulance service. Nor do all hospitals provide such service.

9. There are now many hospitals in KL - both public and private. A good ambulance service can save many lives.

10. Maybe the Government could afford to support the superior ambulance service in one way or another - at least until they become viable. What we need is just one. If several such service is licensed, all would be likely to fail.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on September 21, 2010 1:50 PM

1. How much is 4 trillion dollars? Star Business picking a report from foreign source says it is the value of Germany's total output for one year.

2. I try to imagine the figure 4 trillion and wrote it down. It is 4,000,000,000,000. It is a lot, a great lot of money. But it is just the amount of dollars traded by the currency traders in just one day.

3. Yes, the currency traders are still at it, worldwide financial crisis notwithstanding.

4. Four trillion dollars worth of business in Germany in one year creates millions of jobs; spawns businesses big, medium and small; move millions of vehicles and trains, support a rich and highly developed Germany and the people of the country and much more.

5. But what does 4 trillion dollars in currency trade do? Apart from enriching a few players, nothing. No jobs are created, no businesses, big, medium or small spin off; no enhancement of international trade, no movements of goods or people, no sailing of ships or flights of aircraft, nothing.

6. 4 trillion a day and there are 365 days a year giving a total of 1,460 trillion or 1,460,000,000,000,000 in a year. So much money. But can we estimate how many of the earth's 6.5 billion people benefit?

7. But currency trading can also do damage to millions and millions of people, destroy whole countries, bankrupt businesses and banks and cause recessions. We know because it happened to us in 1997-98. We know because currency trading is one of the causes of the current crisis.

8. What kind of system is this that permits and protects a few people at the expense of millions of helpless people, their countries, their businesses, their societies and their well-being. Is this what capitalism and free trade is all about?

9. I saw Mike Moore's latest film, "Capitalism - A Love Story", and was appalled by the crudeness of people playing with money.

10. People free from financial problems are persuaded by banks to mortgage their fully paid up homes so that they can have money to invest and make more money. The investments fail and there was no money to redeem the mortgaged home. The banks took posession of the homes and the previous owners were forced to move out. But they had no money left and could not even rent a house, Thus a house-owner is rendered homeless.

11. This did not happen to one person. It happened to millions, The banks now own millions of houses. But nobody has enough money to buy them, nor can they borrow money to buy. Simply put the banks cannot get back the money they had lent and the banks fail. That is part of the story of the subprime loan failure which triggered the current crisis.

12. It is now nearly three years since the current crisis began. Every now and again the experts will claim that the crisis has bottomed out. But then news came that the crisis is still on.

13. Now there is talk of a double-dip, of the recession going on to another recession. This is very likely simply because nothing is being done to stop the activities which led to the crisis. As we can see currency trading is still going on, if anything, on a larger scale. Much of the bailout money, billions of dollars worth, has produced nothing worthwhile. The bankers and their people have used a goodly sum of the bailout money for hefty bonuses, the hedge funds are still active and so is presumably the "leveraging" and many of the gambling that lead to the crisis are still in place.

14. The leaders and their financial advisers in the great capitalist countries have learnt nothing. They continue to support the gambling and the manipulation. They are still influenced by their uncontrolled greed.

15. The worldwide recession will not end until Wall Street ceases to control whatever Government the United States and the United Kingdom may have.

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on September 17, 2010 9:52 AM

1. One reason advanced by the advocates of letting the Ringgit to be traded abroad is that it will encourage foreign direct investment.

2. There was a time when Malaysia practically pioneered encouragement for foreign direct investment. It was even before FDI became popular with many developing countries as a shortcut to economic growth. Malaysia wanted FDI for job-creating labour intensive industries because of the need to create employment opportunities for its workforce at that time. It was really not about growing the economy.

3. For Malaysia at that time, foregoing taxes and even local participation were not important. The Government did not rely on FDI to fill its treasury.

4. The policy of attracting FDI was so successful that it resolved the problem of unemployment until it created a problem of labour shortage. This led to an inflow of foreign workers and the expatriation of billions of Ringgit back to their countries. FDI no longer helped Malaysia's growth.

5. But being used to this easy approach we keep on inviting FDI believing that it would still help with our economy. But let us look at what really happens when there is foreign direct investment.

6. Most people think that there would be an inflow of capital. But actually only about 10 per cent of the capital needed was brought in. The rest is borrowed from local banks, preferably foreign owned banks. It is therefore Malaysian money that is invested.

7. Apart from tax exemption Malaysia also subsidised the operations of foreign owned companies through subsidised electricity, fuel and domestic transportation. Of course the Malaysian workers contribute through their cheap labour.

8. There is another type of FDI which is even less beneficial. This take the form of investments in the stock market. Usually the objective is not to benefit from profits and dividends but from capital gains.

10. When the prices are high enough the investors would dump the shares and collect capital gains. The local investors would lose money as prices depreciated.

11. During the financial cirisis of 1997-98, foreign investors dumped their shares so as to quickly change the Ringgit into foreign (US) currency before further falls in the Ringgit would give them less foreign currency in exchange. This invariably caused a steep fall in the share prices and Stock Market Index with consequent losses by local investors.

12. The Malaysian Stock Exchange makes money from commissions or the sales and purchase of shares. Consequently they are happy with more selling and buying on the Exchange. They therefore welcome foreign investors in the market. In fact they believe that if short selling is allowed they will make even more money.But these kinds of market activities do not benefit the nation.

13. FDI is double-edged and caution is needed when deciding on encouraging it. Today FDI is not coming into Malaysia because countries such as China, Vietnam, even Thailand and Indonesia offer lower cost of labour. Besides the economic recession in America and Europe mean less capital is available.

14. But what about the Ringgit? How will it affect the FDI? We need to know whether there was a lowering of FDI due to fixing the Ringgit exchange rate in 1998. If there was, was it directly due to the exchange control or other factors like increase in the cost of labour and competition with the above-mentioned low cost countries?

15. Actually when the Ringgit was fixed at RM3.80 to 1 US Dollar, the cost of investing in Malaysia was lower in terms of foreign currency. Now that the Ringgit has appreciated to RM3.20, the cost has appreciated. If we allow free trading of Ringgit abroad, two things can happen.

16. If the Ringgit strengthens then the cost of investment in Malaysia would increase, This would not facilitate foreign investments.

17. On the other hand the currency traders may once again cause the Ringgit to depreciate. This may result in increased FDI. But remember how we went into recession when our ringgit was devalued by foreign currency traders? Do we want to have that crisis again?

18. The present financial crisis in the world is due to the abuse of regulations in the financial market. No positive steps have been taken so far to regulate it. Certainly currency trading remains unregulated and selective.

19. The latest report says that every day currency trading is valued at four trillion dollars, equal to the total output of Germany in one year.

20. Whereas Germany's 4 trillion dollars yearly output creates millions of jobs, businesses big and small and much trade, the 4 trillion a day currency trade creates practically no jobs, businesses or trade. Of course the currency traders make tons of money. In the process we know that they can cause a repeat of the crisis faced by the world when they lose. Why should the world allow such greedy people to put the world at risk.

21. If we fully free our Ringgit the risk of being attacked by currency traders will once again be faced by us. Do we really want to have the financial crisis once again?

22. So I hope the Government will explain why it wants the Ringgit to be traded again. I hope it is not because we want to be good boys who will always do what we are told to do.

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on September 14, 2010 6:20 PM

1. Mr Lee Kwan Yew, the Minister Mentor of Singapore is three years my senior. That means he and I practically grew up in the same period of time. That also means that I have been able to watch the progress of Mr Lee, and in fact to interact with him on various occasions.

2. His assertion in his interview with the New York Times that "Race relations (would be) better if Singapore (had) not (been) "turfed out" (of Malaysia) is worth studying. Is it true or is it fantasy?

3. Before Singapore joined the Peninsular, Sabah and Sarawak to form Malaysia, there was less racial politics in the Federation of Malaysia. In 1955 the Malays who made up 80 per cent of the citizens gave a large number of their constituencies to the few Chinese and Indian citizens and ensured they won with strong Malay support. As a result the Alliance won 51 of the 52 seats contested.

4. The Tunku then rewarded this willingness of the Chinese and Indian citizens to support the coalition concept by giving them one million unconditional citizenship. This reduced Malay majority to 60 per cent.

5. In the 1959 elections the Alliance of UMNO, MCA and MIC won easily though Kelantan was lost. PAS with only Malays as members was rejected. Racialism even when implied failed.

6. In 1963 Singapore became a part of Malaysia. Despite having promised that the PAP will not participate in Peninsular, Sabah and Sarawak politics, Kwan Yew reneged and the PAP tried to displace the MCA in the Alliance by appealing to Chinese sentiments in the Peninsular. Of course the slogan was "Malaysian Malaysia" which implied that the Chinese were not having equal rights with the Malays. If this appeal to Chinese sentiments against the Malays was not racial, I do not know what is racial.

7. But the Peninsular Chinese favoured working with the Malays in UMNO. They totally rejected PAP in 1964.

8. Following the Malaysian Malaysia campaign a few UMNO leaders tried to rouse Singapore Malay sentiments. There were demonstrations in Singapore where before there were none. Kwan Yew accused Jaafar Albar for instigating the Singapore Malays. Although I never went to Singapore, nor met the Malays there, I was labelled a Malay-ultra by Kwan Yew himself.

9. By 1965 racism had taken hold and the Tunku was forced to end Singapore's membership of Malaysia. But the seed of Chinese racialism had been sown, so that even after the PAP left, the "Malaysian Malaysia" war cry was picked up by the DAP, an offspring of the PAP.

10. With the background of Singapore's activities in Malaysia in the short three years of its membership, can we really believe that if it had not been "turfed out" race relations would be better in Malaysia?

11. But proof of what would have happened was shown by the politics leading up to the 1969 Election. The MCA began to criticise the Sino/Malay cooperation especially on so-called special rights and demanded for a Chinese University. UMNO then began to clamour for a greater share of the economy of the country. The UMNO/MCA conflict resulted in the Alliance faring very badly in the 1969 Elections.

12. DAP and Gerakan, a new party largely made up of MCA dissidents made gains. The Alliance were shocked and rattled.

13. Then the Gerakan and DAP held their victory parade near the Malay settlement of Kampung Baru, hurling racist insults at the Malays. The result was the 13th May race riots.

14. Till today the racist slogan "Malaysian Malaysia" is the war-cry of the DAP. Racism in Malaysia is clearly the result of Singapore's membership of the country for just three years. Can we really believe that if Singapore had not been "turfed out" Malaysia would have no racial problem.

15. While Kwan Yew talks about his belief that all ethnic communities should free themselves from the shackles of racial segregation in order to promote fairness and equality among the races, he also said that "once we are by ourselves (out of Malaysia) the Chinese become the majority".

16. Singapore's population is made up of 75 per cent Chinese and they own 95 per cent of the economy. It is therefore not a truly multi-racial country but a Chinese country with minority racial groups who are additionally much poorer.

17. In Singapore dissent is not allowed, People who contest against the PAP would be hauled up in court for libel and if they win elections would not be allowed to take their places in Parliament. Whereas in Malaysia opposition parties invariably win seats in Parliament and even set up State Governments (today five out of the 13 States are ruled by the opposition parties) the PAP in Singapore has to appoint PAP members to represent the opposition.

18. Whether the PAP admits it or not, the party has always been led and dominated by ethnic Chinese and have won elections principally because of Chinese votes. The others are not even icing on the cake.

19. If Singapore is a part of Malaysia the PAP can certainly reproduce the Singapore kind of non-racial politics because together with the Malaysian Chinese, the PAP will ethnically dominate and control Malaysian politics. No dissent would be allowed and certainly no one would dare say anything about who really runs the country.

20. Amnesia is permissible but trying to claim that it is because Singapore had been "turfed out" for the present racist politics in Malaysia is simply not supported by facts of history.

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on September 9, 2010 8:30 AM

1. The Government has been urging Malaysian institutions and individuals to be innovative, to do research and invent. For this the Government has allocated over a billion Ringgit to help those doing research and inventing things which can contribute towards greater efficiency in the production of goods and facilitating all kinds of work.

2. I will not talk about how difficult it is to gain access to Government funds. That is a major problem for researchers, especially indiiduals and institutions in the private sector. But when the results are achieved, no one wants to use or apply them.

3. Malaysian business and people generally do not believe Malaysian products are any good at all. Often they would reject outright, simply because they are Malaysian inventions. Since theinventors are not business people and finding money to do the research had already been very difficult, they are not in a position to invest in their products in order to produce the quantities and the standards acceptable to the market. Producing something in the laboratory is not the same as producing on a commercial scale.

4. Sometimes products are rejected by Malaysians even when they are acclaimed in foreign exhibitions and journals. In fact even when foreigners accept these products, the Malaysian inventors cannot penetrate the local market, including Government institutions.

5. We need to have a change in our attitude to Malaysian inventions and products. It should begin with Government institutions. Malaysian medical researchers have produced stainless steel plates for bones. They have not been accepted by Government hospitals probably because they already have long contracts with foreign suppliers. They do not wish to break their relations even for a minor part of the supply. There may be other reasons.

6. The private sector behaves in the same way. They reject almost all the research results of Government research institutions. Private sector research also meet with the same rejection.

7. Obviously if the Government wants Malaysians to innovate, to do research and development, Government institutions should be directed to try out products, schemes or systems developed by Government and private individuals which have a reasonable chance to work. Following that the private sector must do the same.

8. There should also be rewards by the Government when a Government body or private company is prepared to try out inventions and systems researched and developed by Malaysians. The reward should be substantial when the trials prove successful. Tax holidays should be given.

9. As a public service I would like to set up a register of Malaysian inventors which have not been given opportunities to prove their products either by the Government or the private sector. I will try to contact relevant agencies or companies which may be interested in the inventions or systems.

10. For those wishing to register, please give;

a) Name and Address

b) Product

c) Stage of development

d) Funding and help required.

Please email all these details to sufi71@rocketmail.com

11. I cannot promise the results but I think the Government would be interested to know how people have responded to Government's call to innovate, invent and use Malaysian products. Knowing this perhaps the Government would instruct relevant officers and departments to be more accomodating when asked for help and consideration.

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on September 8, 2010 12:39 PM

1. The Sultan Abdul Hamid College in Alor Setar is the alma mater of many who have done well in life. Of course there are the two Prime Ministers, but there are also Ministers, business tycoons, professionals in every field and heads of many Government Departments at State and Federal levels.

2. All must remember the fun and games and the great days of schooling. And many must be nostalgic about those days of youth, uncomplicated by the need to struggle for a living. Of course there were exams to get through and that can be a bore - except when you happen to be a distinction kid.

3. I think it is payback time now. Not many schools have hit the century. But in 2008, SAHC became 100 years old.

4. To commemorate this event it was decided to build a Dewan Centennial. The only problem is money. We need money to make this dream a reality. But suddenly we are made aware that everyone, every old boy and (old) girl is poor. No donations have been forthcoming.

5. But I don't think we are so poor that we cannot donate a month's income over a period of 2-3 years.

6. Easy to say but what about you? Well my pension is half my last drawn pay. That makes it RM10,000 per month. In a generous mood I will give RM20,000. Maybe more later, Insya'allah.

7. So how about it? Don't pledge. Just give. Anything less than one million Ringgit will be accepted.

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on September 3, 2010 10:00 PM

1. America has a strong grudge against Iran ever since the Islamic revolution when personnel in the United States' embassy were incarcerated in Iranian jails for a very long period. Attempts to rescue them failed miserably when helicopters carrying a special force crashed.

2. Because America supported and sustained the autocratic and oppressive rule of the Shah, the Iranian revolutionaries labeled the United States as Satan.

3. As usual the US resorted to economic sanctions. Reserves belonging to Iran held in America were frozen.

4. However the sanctions could only be effective if the rest of the world followed suit. To get the world to back the sanctions, America has been building up a case against Iran for attempting to produce nuclear weapons.

5. Although Iran has a lot of oil, it does not have adequate refining capacity. It needs to import gasoline and Turkey has been one of the suppliers. Malaysia too has been supplying gasoline to Iran.

6. America would very much like to invade Iran and engineer a regime change. But America's experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq have shown that military invasion is not only extremely costly but will cause America to be stuck in endless war. So America is trying to do it on the cheap by strangling Iran economically.

7. America has been known to tell lies in order to launch attacks against weak countries. The stories about Iran being about to produce nuclear weapons are no different from the stories about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. They are invented to get the world to support America's revenge against Iran.

8. Even the simple-minded must know that America has more than 10,000 nuclear warheads. Should any small country use nuclear weapons the Americans would not hesitate to erase that country from the world map with the nuclear weapons in America's arsenal. I don't think the Iranian leaders are so dumb that they would take this risk.

9. But the story that it might can convince the world that Iran is a threat and it must be strangled through sanctions so that it would not be able to develop such weapons. Sanctions against countries are inhuman. Sanction against Iraq caused the death of 500,000 children and thousands more were born deformed. Sanctions is a means of slow genocide. This is the preferred weapon of the United States since it dares not invade Iran. The United States' action is entirely in the interest of revenge against a country that had defied it in the past. It is not about saving the world from an Iranian nuclear war.

10. Governments of other countries should remember this background to America's anti-Iranian stance. They should not allow themselves to be used by the Americans to avenge their humiliation in the past. Governments of other countries should remember that in collaborating with the United States they are participating in the killing of children and innocent people of Iran. It is heartening to note that Turkey has now decided not to kill Iranians by lifting the ban on the export of gasoline to Iran.

2. I was prompted to write about the racism in meritocracy because of the reaction to Malay criticisms against the ideas coming out of the Chinese Economic Congress.

3. The leader who made the statement on doing away with quotas etc said that cannot we discuss anything without (the Malays) raising racial issues. He apparently considers his call for meritocracy was not racial.

4. It is racial beause he was advocating taking away the protection afforded by the NEP and quotas from the bumiputras and not from any other race. Obviously he believes that without these protections the bumiputera would lose against the non-bumiputera.

5. As much as giving protection to one race is racial, taking it away from that race so as to benefit another race must also be racial. The suggestion coming as it did from a racially exclusive economic congress must be because it is in the interest of that race. That must be racial even though the demand is for meritocracy.

6. I am not proud of the protection afforded the bumiputera. It implies weakness. I don't think Malays and other bumiputera like to think that they are inferior in any way.

7. But the reality is that in Malaysia the bumiputeras need new skills and a new culture even. These cannot be had by them in a mere 20 years. The original planners of the NEP were too optimistic.

8. I had suggested merit for university entrance in order to shock the bumiputera into getting serious about their education and their own future. However it did not work.

9. In education whereas there is about 60% bumiputera in the Government universities, there are less than 10% in the private universities. And there are more private universities, university colleges and colleges than there are public (Government) universities. Even the 10% bumiputera are there because of scholarships by MARA. Take the scholarships away and there would be practically none.

10. Why is it that the focus is only on what is done by the Government? If the bumiputera in Government universities should be reduced, then the bumiputera in the private universities should be increased. Or else meritocracy would reduce the number of bumiputeras getting university education. Or is it the intention to deny bumiputeras higher education? They are not the best but they are qualified.

11. It is the same with foreign universities. Because they can afford it there are more non-bumiputera than bumiputera in foreign universities. This must increase the disparities in higher education between different races.

12. Lest I be accused of making unfounded assumption, a proper audit should be done by an impartial team.

13. When I was still PM, the Government decided to allow for private colleges and universities to be set up. They can twin with recognised foreign universities and should issue their diplomas and degrees. The reason for allowing private institutions of higher learning is to reduce cost of tertiary education so that the parents who could not afford to send their children abroad can have access to foreign qualification from local private institutions. You can guess who are the beneficiaries of this Government policy.

14. As for contracts even with the 5% advantage given to bumiputera contractors, many of the Government contracts do not go to them because of their lack of capacity. Even if they do get, non-bumiputera contractors get most of the sub-contracts etc.

15. Actually construction by the private sector is bigger than the public sector. In the private sector the bumiputera contractors get next to nothing. I suppose this is because the private contracts are given based on merit. Or maybe it is not. I don't know.

16. Take away the minor protection afforded by the NEP and the bumiputera will lose whatever that they may have. Then racial division will be deepened by wealth division. I don't think this would be good for the country. Remember it was the disparity between rich and poor in Europe which led to the violence of the Communist revolution.

17. I may be labelled a racist but fear of the label will not stop me from working for what I think is the good of the country. Nothing will be gained by dividing the people of Malaysia into poor bumiputera and rich non-bumiputera. The time is not right for disregarding the disparities between the races in the interest of equity and merit.

18. For 46 years this country enjoyed relative stability and consequently good growth. But today the races are more divided than ever. Everyone has become racist, talks about meritocracy notwithstanding. Everyone is thinking about his own race. If I am included it is because I think it is dangerous for the rich to take away what little the poor has.